Once I loved
by Cricce
Summary: A final conversation between Nymphadora Tonks and Bellatrix Lestrange. Contains DH spoilers!


_Once I loved_

_**Note: This is my first fanfic ever. I know that it's just a short one, but I will be very happy for any review. I really want to improve as a writer, so please don't hesitate to critizise me! Unfortunately, English is not my native language so I'm aware that there are probably a lot of grammar mistakes. Please tell me when you find a mistake and I'll try to correct it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they all belong to J.K Rowling. This is a story written for fun and I'm not making any profit from it.**_

Curses and jinxes flew all around the Entrance Hall but neither Bellatrix nor Nymphadora seemed to notice it. Their eyes were fixed upon each other, cold hatred from both of them.

"So Nymphadora... here we are. Would you like me to kill you instantly or do you want to play a little bit more?" The dark-haired, gaunt-faced woman who once had been just as beautiful as her sister teased her niece while trying to prevent a deranged laugh from slipping out.

"Whatever you like, Bellatrix. I'm quite sure both of us will be dead by the end of the night, and my instincts tells me that you have a lot more to fear from death than I have" Nymphadora said calmly, reminding Bellatrix so much of her stupid sister. This time she couldn't stop herself. She roared with laughter as she responded the young woman. In Bellatrix's eyes her opponent was not much of a threat, the stupid girl had recently turned 25 but acted like a teenager.

"Trying to be chivalrous, Nymphadora? Well, the brave and loving ones are always the easiest to bring down... maybe you actually _want_ me to kill you? Longing to join your half-breed of a husband, perhaps? But what will happen to poor Teddy when both mummy and daddy are gone?" A ray of anger left Nymphadora's face but she still kept her voice steady.

"Leave my son out of this. There's no need to insult other people's children just because you were never able to get one yourself. And as far as I know, _Bella_, you too were a _"loving one" _some decades ago." Bellatrix felt a sudden stream of panic, it was impossible, she _couldn't_ know... had the stupid mud-blood really told his daughter about her darkest secret?

"What do you mean, you filthy half-blood?" she said low and calmly.This time it was Nymphadora who laughed and both women had completely forgotten that they were supposed to duel each other.

"Never thought he would dare to tell us, eh? It took some years, I admit that, but when your Lord returned it was quite easy to make daddy tell me everything. I'm not stupid Bella, I knew you hated my mother for marrying Ted, so when you fled from Azkaban I was sure you would come after us immediately... imagine my surprise when my parents seemed just as calm as usual! But eventually he told me. He adored me, he was never good at hiding secrets from me, so when he found out that I suspected something he told me everything about it. Didn't believe it at first. He didn't seem to be your type, ain't I right, _Auntie Bella_?" Bellatrix stared at her niece in shock, she couldn't believe it... after all these years of shame... she had done everything to hide it, but her niece had still found out...

"It seems like I hit a sore point. But if things had gone the way you wished, I wouldn't call you Auntie Bella but _Mummy_ Bella." Nymphadora continued. The words hurt Bellatrix more than a curse would ever be able to do. For a few seconds she sank down in memories...

_She had defied all her values, she would lose her family, she knew that. She was a fool and for a moment she thought about running back to the castle and forget everything about Ted Tonks. The chance slipped through her fingers though when the kind-looking boy saw her and with a broad smile drew closer until he was beside her._

"_Bellatrix. You wanted to see me?" he said with his soft voice and she immediately wondered how she could have been hesitating... this was right, there was no other way. With a deep breath she told him everything about her feelings. He seemed shocked and felt silent before finally responding her._

"_Bella... you're a pretty girl and it seems like I've been mistaken about you, thinking that you were a pure-blood maniac without compassion, but..."_

"_But what?" she demanded._

"_The thing is that I'm already in love with and engaged to... another girl". Something in his intonation made Bellatrix feel that this girl wasn't "nobody special", but nothing in the world could have prepared her for the name that slipped his lips._

"_Andromeda." She stared at him in shock before finally speaking._

"_You and that freak stay away from me. I never want to see neither of you again. I'll leave both of you alone as long as you keep quiet, understood?_

"_Oh, Bella, come on..."_

"_**Understood?" **__The boy she minutes ago had loved by her whole heart gave her a sad look and then nodded._

"_As you wish, Bella." She threw a last, disgusted gaze at him before turning away from him._

"_Don't you dare to call me Bella, mud-blood."_

She was back in the Great Hall. The girl that should have been her daughter, could have been her daughter if she had just learnt to know Ted Tonks before her sister did, looked upon her with a sad smile on her lips.

"You know Bella...If it wasn't for the fact that you've killed so many, destroyed so many and ripped families apart... I would feel rather sorry for you." Bellatrix gazed at her niece one last time.

"Feel sorry for your son and mother instead. Avada Kedavra!" The green light left the tip of her wand but as it hit the young woman she didn't look scared or petrified. Instead she had still a sad smile on her lip as the light of life left her eyes. Without looking back Bellatrix Lestrange went on and without knowing it, but with Nymphadora's words still in her head, she drew a step closer to her own destiny.


End file.
